


Unless It's With You

by geewizzle



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Confessions, Humor, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nygmobblepot, Post 5x06, and ed wont let him leave because everyone else in gotham are idiots, ed got a haircut even tho i'll miss his long hair, guess who tries to stop them, my theory on how ed ends up going with them as the 5x08 synopsis suggests, oswald aint leaving without ed, oswald and selina are skrrrting out of gotham, selina sass, submarine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 11:57:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17807570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geewizzle/pseuds/geewizzle
Summary: “Oswald, you can’t, you can’t just leave!”Oswald studied Edward’s face, finding no more signs of acrimony, just concern.Concern for him.“And why not?” he retaliated defensively, “It’s not like anybody is begging me to stay!”





	Unless It's With You

Edward fastened his new emerald cufflinks with poise and delicately placed his bowler hat on top of his head. His hair was freshly cut. It wasn’t in the neatest state, still a bit shaggy around the edges but it was hard to find a good barber when the city was in a state of apocalypse. 

He smiled at his reflection in the mirror, proud of himself for how he had remained in control for so long. He felt truly at peace within himself, like he was reborn. He hadn’t felt so content and so sure of who he was in years. 

With a pistol borrowed from the GCPD with the reluctant curtesy of Gordon, Edward walked out of the library to meet up with the others at the precinct. 

Their unlikely little team seemed to have been working well for all members involved. They all processed an array of skills and pieces of knowledge that protected not only each other but potentially the fate of Gotham itself. Edward may not have ever seen himself as a hero, but he had to admit it did feel good to be on the other side of the coin for a change. 

“Ed, I thought you left?”

He furrowed his brows in confusion at the question falling from Barbara’s lips as he entered the metal doors. 

“What?” he quickly responded with another question, albeit a short one. 

“Penguin came to see Jim about half an hour ago” she said, looking through a map of the city at one of the desks “he came to say his goodbyes and wish him luck for everything etcetera, etcetera”. 

“He asked to see you” she added, “I figured you two were leaving together”. 

Ed shook his head as confusion wrestled with his mind. 

“What? I haven’t seen Oswald in days, what do you mean he’s leaving?”

Barbara blinked, realising now that she may have misinterpreted Oswald’s intentions. 

Ed was slightly caught off guard with how Barbara was carrying herself as she looked up at him, she seemed almost concerned. 

“He’s leaving Gotham. Didn’t you know?”

“WHAT?” Ed bellowed back, causing for a couple of officers nearby to turn their heads in his direction. 

“W-where is he going? Did he tell you?” he stuttered out in a hurry, trying to piece everything together. This didn’t seem like Oswald, Gotham was his home that he had shed blood and tears to reign. 

“Look, he didn’t say much but from what I heard he is leaving in a submarine for the mainland. If you want to say goodbye you might still be able to catch up with him”.

“A submarine?” Ed questioned, “the docks!”

Ed’s eyes widened in the realisation that he may still have time to find Oswald and get to the bottom of this. 

“The docks of course! Thank you, Barbara,” he spoke before rushing out the GCPD doors leaving a slightly concerned but mostly nonchalant Barbara to shrug her shoulders and continue back to the map. 

-

 

“Are you sure this thing won’t sink with all of this junk stuffed into it?” Selina asked, kicking the metal submarine with her boot. 

Oswald let out a sigh as he struggled to drag more bags of gold, jewellery and what have you into the submarine’s doors. 

“I can assure you, it won’t” he groaned, letting out a long held in breath as he let go of the large bag. “You know, we would be leaving a lot sooner if you offered to help”.

Selina smirked down at Penguin struggling, leaning comfortably against the metal door. 

“I am helping by keeping watch remember, seeing all of this stuff out in the open like this would be any thief’s dream”.

Oswald rolled his eyes as he walked out of the sub to retrieve the remaining few items. 

“Fine, but when we get to the mainland, you either listen to me or you’re on your own” he scolded. 

Selina just grinned, “both options work fine by me”. 

She watched as Oswald groaned in pain as his leg was no doubt beginning to strain from lifting the heavy treasures. The young woman let out a sigh as she walked over to grab the other end of a rather ugly but probably priceless statue. 

“My hero” Oswald said sarcastically, and the two fiends carried the statue into the sub. 

“You’re welcome” Selina responded, dusting off her gloves. 

“You do know how to actually drive this thing right?” she questioned, highly sceptical that Penguin was capable of piloting the giant metal balloon. 

Oswald just rolled his eyes, though he was somewhat unconvinced of his capabilities himself. 

“I’ve piloted a blimp, I’m sure a submarine isn’t too far of a stretch!”.

“Yep, we’re definitely going to die” Selina simply said, walking out. 

Oswald followed her, before suddenly flinching still at his name unceremoniously being shouted from the distance. 

“Oswald!”

Penguin turned, surprised to find a breathless Edward running towards him. He noticed his newly changed appearance and couldn’t help but feel slightly endeared, though he immediately shrugged the thought away. 

“Edward?” 

Edward soon caught up with Oswald, trying to catch his breath as he walked over to the man who was fleeting his own kingdom. 

He took his hat from his head and held it by his side, looking at Oswald with both apprehension and bewildered sympathy.

“Ed, what are you doing here?” Oswald spoke first. 

He was pressed when he couldn’t find the other man at the precinct, intended on giving his friend one final goodbye before leaving the city. Though the gesture would have been emotional for Oswald, and possibly Edward too, he knew he needed final closure on their relationship before leaving everything behind. 

Edward stepped closer, his eyebrows furrowed in prolonged confusion and anger.

Selina walked back with the last few treasures, standing awkwardly at suddenly finding Riddler glaring at Oswald. 

“Uh, you guys look like you need a chit-chat. I’ll be in the sub” she spoke before scampering into the metal ship.

Oswald ignored her as he looked back at Ed with concern. Ed’s eyes grew slightly softer then, holding his hat with both hands.

“How could you leave?” He asked, his voice both quiet and aggressive. 

Oswald’s eyes widened, caught entirely off guard at the desperation in the other man’s voice. His tone was not unlike the last time Edward spoke to him. 

“I don’t understand, how could you just leave Gotham? After everything that you’ve built and everything we’ve been through. It’s not like you to just throw it all away”.

“Ed, the city is in ruins. There is nothing left for me here”, Oswald said gently but slightly unsure, as if he too were trying to grip what his own words meant. 

Edward simply shook his head in disbelief. 

“So, you would leave everything behind just like that? Just because things aren’t going your way?” Ed interrogated, which lead a spout of anger to come from his friend. 

“It’s more complicated than that!” Oswald defended.

“Enlighten me then!” Ed shouted back, “Because it seems to me that you are running from something. This isn’t like you”.

Oswald looked anywhere but at Ed, contemplating what to say to the other man. They both vowed to be honest to each other, backhanded betrayals out of the question. However, he had to protect himself. 

“What I do, is none of your business Edward” Oswald snarked, turning away to get back to the sub. 

“No!” Edward shouted, gripping Oswald’s shoulder to turn him back around. Oswald stumbled at the force of the other man’s grip, shock gracing his face. 

“Oswald, you can’t, you can’t just leave!”

Oswald studied Edward’s face, finding no more signs of acrimony, just concern. 

Concern for him. 

“And why not?” he retaliated defensively, “It’s not like anyone is begging me to stay!”

Edward let his hands drop his hat to the floor. He then gripped both of Oswald’s shoulders, fiercely clinging to the other man. 

“Maybe if you weren’t so self-centred, you would realise that I am!” Edward shouted back, letting the words flow from his lips without care, “Oswald, you have to stay!”.

Oswald’s eyes softened, taken back by his friend’s desperation, “why?”. 

Edward swallowed, looking into the eyes of the man in his arms, contemplating. Lying only ever got them both into trouble and anguish. 

“We only just found our way back to each other” he spoke, his voice now more levelled and surer, “don’t end it so soon. Not like this”.

Oswald let out an exhale. Edward paused for a moment, trying to get to the core of Oswald’s motivations. 

“You’re stronger than this Oswald, you’ve never been a man who quits” he reminded, “if not for yourself, stay in Gotham for me”. 

Oswald opened his mouth as if to say something but found himself choking on air. He closed his eyes, finally letting his guard down. Ed was always too smart for him, always ten steps ahead. He couldn’t continue to lie to him, not after everything. 

“Ed, I can’t” he whispered. 

“Why not?” Ed immediately retaliated.

“I’m afraid”.

Edward was right, he was running from something. 

“Afraid of what, Oswald?” he asked, softening his grip on Oswald’s shoulders. 

Oswald closed his eyes and let out a reluctant sigh.

“I’m afraid that my feelings may resurface the more time we spend together. There I said it!”

His eyes remained closed as Edward let go of him entirely. 

“So, you’re not running away from Gotham?” Ed spoke slowly, “You’re running away from me?”.

Oswald then opened his eyes, upset at himself for upsetting Ed. 

“I’m sparing us the pain of hurting each other again. Now if you’ll excuse me-”

Oswald then looked away from the other man and returned to his jewels. 

“Well then” he heard Edward disparage from behind him “you really have become a coward. Enjoy your trip Oswald, be sure to send me a post card from wherever you end up because I’ll be staying here in Gotham where you know we both belong!”.

Oswald let out struggled breath as he heard Edward’s footsteps grew quieter as he walked away. 

Such was a goodbye. 

He looked down at the jewels in his gloved hands for a moment, before tossing them to the floor. The Penguin quickly turned himself around to face his disappearing friend. 

“Ed! Wait!”

Edward promptly stopped and turned back around. He declined to say anything, instead he slowly walked back towards Oswald. 

“Perhaps I am a coward!” Oswald admitted, silently grateful that Edward hadn’t completely walked away. 

“Perhaps I am a scared, pathetic coward who is still too freshly wounded from the last time his heart was ripped out”. 

He spoke with vulnerability that Edward was both surprised and thankful Oswald was displaying for him. 

He stepped closer to Oswald again, remaining silent so the other man had no choice but to speak. 

“Leaving Gotham won’t change that, nor change how I feel about you will it?” He continued, not intending on Edward to answer him. He nervously looked down at his hands that were holding onto each other, begging himself to just admit everything to Ed and allow them both the luxury of trust. 

“Because, even during the times when I hadn’t seen you for months”, he looked up, stepping closer. “I still thought about you, I still cared”. 

Edward let out a breath, his eyes never leaving the other man’s. 

“I think, that if I leave, knowing that I’ll be safely away from the city while you’re still here” Oswald swallowed, allowing himself to free fall into the safety of Edward, “it’ll only pierce my heart even deeper. You’re right, I shouldn’t do that to you”. 

Edward then stepped closer, gently holding onto Oswald’s arm in a reassuring manner. 

“We can do this Oswald, together we can accomplish more than either of us ever could on our own”. 

Oswald let himself fall into Edward’s soft touch, giving the other man a small smile. 

“Maybe so, but I made a promise to Selina that we’d both be leaving Gotham tonight. There’s still nothing left here for me Edward, nothing besides you”. 

Edward nodded his head in understanding, trying to quickly come up with a compromise. 

“Come with us” Oswald suddenly breathed out, his eyes widening. 

Edward found himself mirroring Oswald’s expression. He never considered leaving Gotham himself. Sure, the city was a wasteland with only the very dense and barren of its citizens remaining. There was no one to challenge his intellect or engage in his games anymore. So, what real good was Gotham to him anyway? 

“Oswald, I?”

“We can start over completely!” Oswald cheerily interjected, with a convincing smile. “I have millions worth in gold and diamonds that we can use to become whoever we want on the mainland!”

Oswald held onto the hand of Edward’s that was wrapped around his arm and gave it a light squeeze.

“We can start fresh Ed, together”

Edward’s eyes widened even further at his friend’s proposition and what it implied.

“Together?”

Oswald smiled shyly, “Yes, if you would like that”.

“I know that it’s asking for a lot, but look around us Ed” he continued, motioning to the desolated city surrounding them, “As much as Gotham means to us and what it has done for us both, there is nothing left for us here. The only choice I have left is to pursue a new empire, and I would very much like to have you by my side”. 

Edward flashed him a mischievous smile. 

“Let’s get going, shall we?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey yall!
> 
> So after we done found out that Oswald and Selina are going to try and leave Gotham AND after the 5x08 synposis revealed that Ed and Os are going to try and escape Gotham together, this concocted in my brain. It's very dialogue heavy and not as lovey dovey or pretty as some of my other stuff but idc I tried to write this as an actual scene for the show and I like it.  
> Let me know your guys' thoughts/theories about what may happen and also of course if you enjoyed it as i LOVE reading comments! oh and did anyone watch RPDR all stars? Because damn I'm still shook


End file.
